Chapter 112
Stella
Adrian’s face breaks before me. I'm unable to move or say a word, he hesitation flooding throughout my body. My fingers feel numb and my heart slowly thump inside of my chest, the slow beat making me feel even more uneasy than I have before.
Do I hate him? Didn't I love him just a year ago? What happened to that affection I held towards him?
Oh, right. He signed my body away, willing to give me up in order to save a woman who does not care about him, a woman who only cares about the numbers in his bank account and the social circles that she can get through him.
Adrian was the one who succumbed me to a to a fate that has left me, broken and weak, my body unable to keep up with my mind, and a foster family who was rooting for my downfall from the beginning. Just his mirror ass association with those people has me hesitant to keep him in my life anymore.
He is a gateway for them to have access to me, and I do not want that. I want them out of my life forever, to never see them again, to never be in the same room as them.
I feel conflicted while looking up at him. I see the tears in his eyes, they match mine, and I begin to feel overwhelmed with the unlimited possibilities as to what my future holds for me.
Before I can even respond, Adrian feels in the gap for me, and for that I am only slightly thankful, knowing that the more he talks in the more that I stay silent, the more I allow myself to be available to him.
“I regret hurting you, Stella. I regret making you sign our marriage contract that allowed me to be so destructive in my way toward you. You didn't deserve that. You did not deserve any of this, any of the pain, both physical and emotional, that you are feeling right now,” Adrian pushes the words out, and I hang onto every single one of them. “You deserve better, yes, but I want to prove to you that I can be a better man for you.”
Tears roll down his face. He does not even try to wipe them away, to try and hide them from me, to show me that he is strong. The man who stand in support me shows me that he is weak, that his vulnerability has finally taken over his actions and the way that he feels.
Perhaps, though, there is strength in weakness. There is strength in showing me that he can break as well, that the once perfect exterior that he once wore is now cracked. He is cracked and shattered just like me. It is a familiar sight to behold.
“So, please. Please tell me what it is that I can do to gain your favor and to earn your forgiveness for every single one of the misgivings that I have forced you to go through,” Adrian pleads with me.
I suck in a breath and look around. The outside of the banquet hall is empty. The parking lot is just to the side and I focus on my vision on the rows upon rows of expensive and lavish vehicles.
A sharp pain shoots inside of my chest. My heart contracts in on itself, a reminder of what he was willing to do to me just under a year ago.
“I don't know what it is that you can do to make it up to me,” I begin to speak, but my voice trembling.
“I can do anything. Whatever it is that you want me to do, I will do it, just say the word Stella and I will be the one to bring you the peace that you need,” Adrian steps forward and close the distance between us.
He stands just a small distance from me now. I can smell his cologne, a rich and lavish scent that reminds me of the home that we once shared together. It is familiar and welcoming and I, quite frankly, was not aware of just how much I missed the smell of my old life.
It was in my old life, though, that Adrian was ready to give me up. He was ready to put my life down on the line for a woman who does not care for either of us. Clara has made it abundantly clear that she wants nothing to do with me and if she did, it is because I somehow owed her something just by simply existing.
Adrian perpetuated that problem. He enabled her behavior and gave into every single wish that she asked of him. I made me sick to watch while I remained in the background with his wedding ring on my finger.
A quiet scoff leaves my lips at the thought. I look away and at the moon that hangs low in the sky. Unlike at the resort, it is small and gray with no vibrance or life to it.
Maybe it is a sign for me to move on. Maybe it is a sign for me to get even.
“You never should have signed my heart away, then,” I speak out with bitterness to my voice. “You never should have signed the papers that would have killed me.”
“Why do you keep saying that?” Adrian steps forward. He takes my hands in his own, his tombs grazing over my aching knuckles. “Why do you keep saying that I signed your heart away when I did no such thing?”
“Don’t lie to me, Adrian!” I raise my voice and look up at him. “I saw the papers in the hospital. I saw your signature on the dotted line that said that if Clara didn’t wake up in the next week, that she would have been given my heart while I died on the operating table!”
Adrian shakes his head, his hands squeezing mine. My head hangs low and I am unable to stop the tears from coming, the floodgates now finally opening as sobs begin to take over my body. I feel overwhelmed just standing so close to him.
“Stella,” Adrian breathes out. I look up at him, our red and glossy eyes meeting under the dim moonlight. “I never signed papers like that. I would have never signed your life away.”
“But you did,” I whisper, my body trembling. “I saw it with my own two eyes...and for that, I will never be able to forgive you.”
I push away from him just as the doors to the banquet hall open. A chill runs over my skin, goosebumps now prominent on the exposed parts of my skin.
“Stella?” Sebastian’s voice calls out from behind me.
I do not turn. My eyes remain on Adrian as my boyfriend takes my side. I feel his hand slip into mine.
“Stella,” Sebastian’s voice lowers, turning dangerous as he takes in the sight of Adrian standing before me, “let’s go.”
Without another word, Sebastian gives my hand a tug and pulls me in the direction of his car, the two of us disappearing into the darkness while Adrian stays behind in the blinding light of the revelations of his own sins.
